Playoff bubble?
» Players would have to approve move to environment.
No logical suggestions and ideas are being dismissed by the NFL while the league cautiously tries to make plans while adapting to the unpredictable novel coronavirus pandemic.
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton recommended instituting a bubble for the playoffs during a recent competition committee meeting.
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said Wednesday that the idea has merit, but he was noncommittal on whether the league will implement Payton’s suggestion. Vincent emphasized that any type of bubble would have to be voluntary.
“Not sure if that is something we could do actually legally,” Vincent said Wednesday during a conference call with Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer. “But the concept itself as you start driving toward the championship run, the players could do it if they choose to do it. Not clubdriven, but to create some form of bubble. We didn’t use the term ‘bubble,’ but that secure environment to make sure there is no risk of outside (infection) as the teams start driving toward that championship run.
”We did tell Coach Payton that it was something both Dr. Sills and the teams would explore. These are things that we just have to be flexible on. All things are on the table, frankly, at this juncture during this fluid environment.”
NFL teams have created voluntary bubbles during training camp, including the Saints and Dallas Cowboys. Other professional sports leagues have had success with a true bubble, including the NBA, WNBA,
NHL and professional soccer.
Major League Baseball doesn’t have a bubble and has had outbreaks, including a major one with the Miami Marlins. Unlike baseball, NFL teams haven’t started traveling yet. The first game is Sept. 10 between the Texans and Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
A mandatory bubble would require negotiations with the NFL Players Association.
As of Wednesday afternoon, only nine NFL players are on reserve-COVID-19 lists. That means a player has either tested positive for COVID-19 or is quarantined after coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive. The Texans haven’t had anyone test positive despite Houston being classified as a hot spot.
A week ago, the NFL said that 0.46 percent of all personnel, players, coaches and staff had tested positive with a rate of 0.81 positive testing among players. There were 170 new positive tests at the intake portion of camp as 9,983 people were tested with a positive rate of 1.7 percent. Among 2,840 players tested when they reported for camp, 53 tested positive for a rate of 1.9 percent.
“In the last 15 days with over 42,000 tests, really low rates of positives,” Sills said. “Very low numbers of players on COVID-IR, which shows teams are doing a great job.”
The tests are conducted by BioReference Laboratories with results frequently coming back in less than 24 hours.
”We continue to be very pleased with where we are,“Sills said. ”We are seeing a really low rate of positives and the positive tests that we do see are overwhelmingly unconfirmed positives. That shows are teams are continuing to do a great job with their protocol adherence.”
Sills added that the NFL has adjusted its testing protocols, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, to put a 90-day pause of testing anyone known to have tested positive for COVID-19 previously. The CDC is now saying that anyone infected previously will be immune from the coronavirus for at least three months. They won’t be tested during that time, but they will be required to still wear masks and maintain social-distancing protocols.
The league is hoping to conduct its season without interruptions, but it has been plotting contingency plans for a shortened season. The NFL has formed an external advisory committee to assist commissioner Roger Goodell on COVID-19 issues. The group is comprised of former coaches, general managers and players and was formed to avoid conflicts of interest in the event that games could be postponed, suspended or canceled.
”The purpose of this is to truly prevent a conflict of interest,“Vincent said. “We have to be fluid and we don’t want to compromise the integrity of the game.”
The NFL is trying to figure out what it would do if there’s an outbreak that affects the ability to hold a game.
”We’ve ran through this exercise with the competition committee,“Vincent said. “The things that we’ve been thinking about, and contingency planning, whether it’s (an) outbreak, we want to look at changing of the venue, the possible postponement of a game. How does that work? We hope it doesn’t occur but, just based off of what we’ve seen, we have to have the flexibility.
“You may not have equal divisional games. How does that work as we look at playoff seeding? These are things that we’ve vetted with the competition committee. There are some additional questions now as we’re seeing things evolve in other sports. These things could happen on the medical side. How do we respond?”
In other NFL news, the league distributed gameday protocols and travel procedures in a memo to all 32 teams.
That includes having no cheerleaders, mascots, sideline reporters and fans on the field during, before and after games.
Visiting teams are required to be in the host NFL city at least one day before kickoff. Everyone must be tested for COVID-19 and undergo temperature and symptom screening before games. Game balls must be disinfected. Players aren’t allowed to get within 6 feet of each other after games, and jersey exchanges are prohibited.
And coaches and players must have their own individual hotel rooms.
NFL teams are required to stay at the team hotel the night before the game. Players will not be allowed to use hotel gyms or swimming pools, take public transportation or dine at restaurants. They are allowed to order room service, or use third-party delivery services like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates.
“All meals must be provided to players and coaches/staff when traveling with the team,” the protocol stated. “Self-serve buffet style dining is prohibited; food service with an attendant maintaining appropriate distancing and using appropriate PPE shall be permitted when necessary. Hydration must be provided in individual bottles or singleuse cups.
“Clubs should consider providing ‘welcome amenities’ and/or utilizing private on-site vendors at hotels to provide food and drink in rooms upon arrival in order to minimize trips to public markets.”